A review of the 2018 National Multicultural Festival (NMF) has recommended improved communication with stakeholders and a better-defined alcohol policy.
Announcing the findings of the review, Minister for Multicultural Affairs, Rachel Stephen-Smith, said it had been commissioned following feedback on this year’s festival, in particular regarding the decision to restrict alcohol sales.
Ms Stephen-Smith said there was also internal feedback on the impact of the festival on the Community Services Directorate’s capacity to deliver on other inclusion and participation priorities.
“In anticipation of the review, the 2018‑19 Budget committed $100,000 a year to address the known shortfall in operational funding and an additional $150,000 in 2018‑19 for staffing costs,” Ms Stephen-Smith said.
“The Government will consider the review’s advice on future funding and arrangements for the NMF in the context of future Budget processes.”
She said that more than 40 per cent of households reported that someone living there had attended the festival, and participants said the 2018 festival felt safer and more family friendly than the previous year.
“As I said at the time, the decision to restrict alcohol sales for the 2018 festival was made with the best of intentions to address a concern that had been expressed by stakeholders over a number of years,” Ms Stephen-Smith said.
“However, the Government also recognised that restricting alcohol sales to commercial stalls and community clubs was not the most appropriate way of achieving the objective.”
She said there had not been enough consultation and engagement with multicultural community stakeholders in making the decision, and the policy was not as well communicated to stallholders and the public as it should have been.
The 31-page report on the festival can be accessed at this PS News link.
